The Secret
by kaye.fox
Summary: Sirius, James and Peter find out about Remus' secret
1. The 'Illness'

**Summary:** James, Sirius and Peter find out about Remus' secret yes I know it's been done a million times already

**Disclaimer: **You know I don't own this, JKR does.

**THE SECRET**

**Chapter 1: The 'Illness'**

The early morning sunlight was winking through the gap in the curtains around the bed. The bed was dressed in gold and scarlet, and there were three others, identical, in the room as well. In one, a handsome teenager was sleeping peacefully, his brown hair flopping over his face. In another, another boy was snoring loudly. The third was, strangely, unoccupied, and in the last slept a teenager with messy, jet black hair. On the table beside him was a pair of glasses, and as the sunlight crossed his face, he sleepily opened his hazel eyes, and blinking, reached across to put the glasses on his face. He sat up and looked around. He smiled as he saw his two friends sleeping still, but then his eyes came to the empty bed.

_Where's Remus?_ He thought to himself, frowning. He had been there yesterday… though now he remembered; he hadn't been there last night. He had left the common room a little before sunset, complaining that he was feeling sick.

James had assumed that he would have come back to the tower, but obviously he was very sick, if he had to stay in the hospital wing. He _had_ been looking rather pale. In fact, Remus seemed to look 'rather pale' a lot.

James was worried for his friend. He resolved to visit him right after breakfast.

-----------------

"Aaargh!"

Peter awoke to a splash of ice-cold water, which was now dripping down his back, the carpet beneath him soaked. _Hang on… _Why wasn't he in his bed?

As he was trying to figure this out, his thoughts were interrupted by cackling laughter. He looked up to see James and Sirius howling with laughter.

"You- You…" Sirius could get no further due to his hysterical state, so James finished for him,

"You… You wouldn't wake up. We t- tried everything, even…" he was struggling to keep his voice steady, "we even pulled you off your bed, but that didn't work… and this was our last resort. Sirius' idea" he added, before joining his best friend in laughing his head off.

_Where's Remus when you need him? He'd have stopped all this, _thought Peter, irritated. Grumbling to himself, he lifted himself up off the ground and went into the bathroom.

-----------------

As Peter left the room, Sirius calmed down enough to notice something: he'd got away with laughing at Peter for a while now, with no words from Remus. He turned to ask Remus what was up, and why he hadn't spoken, when he realised that Remus wasn't there. He blinked, and turned around again, making a full circle, so that he was once more facing James.

"Hey, James, where's Remus?"

"Took you long enough." James replied, and Sirius pouted. James sighed.

"He's in the hospital wing, remember? He left last night."

Sirius thought back to last night. Now he remembered. Remus had left saying... _Hang on…_

"But Remus told me that his mother was sick, so he had to go visit her." He was puzzled by this, and by the look on James' face, he was too.

"Well… maybe he was going to visit his mother… and then got sick…" he offered lamely. Seeing Sirius' dubious expression, he added, "Well we'll have to ask him when he gets back, because Remus wouldn't lie to us. He's just not like that. He knows he can trust us with anything."

Sirius was reassured by this comment, as he realised that it was true of his friend. Smiling, he said, "Why don't we go check the hospital wing after breakfast? I'm starved."

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­­­­­­­In the great hall, there were platters of delicious foods laid out on the four tables. Sirius was already digging in to his plate, which was piled high with a variety of foods, while James was still taking his seat. Peter was carefully deliberating whether to have a muffin or toast, but he couldn't decide, and his stomach got the better of him. He took both.

James slowly began to butter a slice of toast. He wasn't overly hungry today, as he had something else other than food on his mind.

"So… what do you think of Remus' 'illness'?"

"What do you mean?" asked Peter.

"Yeah, what are you talking about?" Sirius was also a little confused.

"Well… isn't it a bit suspicious?"

"In what way?"

They still hadn't caught onto James' point. He sighed. "He keeps disappearing, claiming to be sick. And half the time he isn't even in the hospital wing when we try to visit him."

"That is pretty weird… but you can't think that Remus is lying to us?"

"I don't know. I can't believe it, but logic tells me that something's missing in the equation. I'm getting worried about him, sick all the time. And it happens so often, it's almost a regular occurrence."

Sirius laughed. "Yeah, you're right. Maybe we can predict when he'll fall sick next."

James laughed along with his friends, but in the back of his mind, was thinking, _Maybe…_

----------------

They headed down to the hospital wing after breakfast. They were all fairly sure that he would be there, and had brought some chocolate and lollies which they had retrieved from their stash up in the common room. They had all been sick before, and knew how great it felt to have someone bring you sugar. Sometimes you weren't able to eat it, but you could sit there and _imagine_ how great it would be when you got to eat it. And also, it was very thoughtful.

By the time they reached their destination, however, Peter had eaten a third of the chocolate.

"I'm sorry guys! Really I am!"

"Ok," Sirius grudgingly said, "but next time someone else is holding the sugar."

Peter nodded meekly, and James knocked on the door. Madam Pomfrey opened the door only a little way, and positioned herself so that the boys couldn't see past her.

"Yes?" She was impatient, and she kept glancing back inside the door.

"Can we go in and visit Remus?" James asked.

Madam Pomfrey looked flustered; then quickly regained her composure. "Your friend Mr Lupin is not here," she said shortly. "Try somewhere else."

With that, she went to shut the door on them. But Sirius stuck his foot in the doorway, so that she couldn't close it.

"But he told us he was coming down here last night," he complained.

"He did come in last night, and I gave him a remedy for his sore stomach. But he is not here now."

"Well where is he then?" James looked directly into her eyes. They flitted around, and glanced at the door of the hospital wing so briefly that he almost couldn't be sure if he imagined it.

Then she blinked, and spoke sharply. "I haven't a clue where Mr Lupin is, but he isn't here. Goodbye." And she shut the door.

James stood staring at the door, as though trying to bore a hole through it. After a few seconds, he turned and walked away, followed by Peter and Sirius, who were both thoroughly confused.

_**A/N: Chapter one finished! This is my first fanfic so please be nice… ish. Constructive criticism is welcome, and all reviews are accepted ) **_

_**Hope you like it! Tell me if it's really bad, I'm not that great of a writer… so please RR!**_


	2. Trailing Snape

**Chapter 2: Trailing Snape**

"Hey, Remus, what are the ingredients of a pepper-up potion?" Peter looked up from his homework, chewing his quill.

"I'm not going to do your homework for you. Here, find it in this book. I think it's after the bit on antidotes." Remus heaved a large and thick book onto the desk beside Peter. He had recovered from his illness a few days ago and was now just as he usually was. He had told them all what had actually happened: He had been _planning_ on visiting his sick mother, but this illness had caught him unawares, and it was so contagious that Madam Pomfrey wouldn't let him have any visitors. But, he assured them, it was all better now, and they had no chance of getting sick.

Since Remus had missed two days of school, in the hospital wing, he now had to catch up with the homework he had missed, which included a three-foot essay on the events of 1589, the year of the Great Wizarding War between France and Poland. This was what was currently keeping him in the library, while his friends wanted him to go outside and play quidditch with them. Peter was still behind on his Potions homework, but then, he always was.

"Who _cares_ about the Great Wizarding **Bore**? No-one even _dies_!" Sirius had whinged, when Remus told him about his essay.

"Such a morbid mind. I have to finish this for History of Magic. I would rather not have to do this, but, I do, so I'm sorry. Take it up with Professor Binns if you must."

"Ok then, I will." Sirius brightened at the idea; then left to find his Professor.

So currently James was sitting around with Remus and Peter, waiting for Sirius to get back. _And probably watching Lily,_ thought Remus. He was getting on with his essay because he was sure that Sirius would not be able to change his Professor's mind. And anyway, it was already half-finished.

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Sirius left Professor Binns' office disappointedly. He hadn't been able to get Remus off the hook. He had argued with the Professor for ages, but without any luck. He needed something to console himself. As he turned and went down the stairs on his left, he looked around for inspiration. He saw a couple of suits of armour, some portraits where the occupants were conversing avidly, plenty of stairs, a Ravenclaw first year and two Slytherins. The Slytherins were whispering together. They were second-years, like Sirius, and he recognised them as friends – or rather, "acquaintances" of Severus Snape – Snape had no friends. But this had given Sirius an idea…

As he walked back to the library, deep in thought, he heard a growl from behind him. Startled, he turned around. On the wall was the image of a great, grey wolf, standing alone in a dark and snowy forest. It growled again at him, and he hurried back to meet his friends, his plan almost fully-formed already.

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"I've finished!" Remus gave a satisfied smile and rolled up his parchment, putting his things away in his bag. Peter had already finished his Potions, and he and James had been discussing the next quidditch match – Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw (Lily had left). Peter was barracking for Ravenclaw, while James was certain that Hufflepuff could win hands down any day. They both looked up at him.

"So can we play quidditch now?" That seemed to be all James could think about. Ever.

"But there's only three of us, that would be unfair… speaking of which, Sirius should be back by now." As he spoke, the library doors burst open.

"Hey guys! I have a plan!" yelled Sirius. After Madam Pince, the librarian, came over and 'shushed' him ("_This is a **library!**_"), he motioned to James, Peter and Remus to follow him outside.

"What is it?" James was always interested in plans. However, Remus was slightly concerned. He knew Sirius, and his plans, out of any of the group's, were always the most harmful.

"It isn't dangerous, is it?" His worry showed through his pale face. Sirius however quickly dispelled his worries.

"Of course not. We're just going to give Snivellus a little scare… We are going to make him paranoid. We'll make him think he's being followed… by a _werewolf_." He grinned wickedly, and two sets of eyes in front of him lit up at the idea. Remus, however, was not as disposed to the idea. He shifted uncomfortably from one foot to the other.

Sirius misinterpreted his uneasiness. "Come on Remus, it's not going to hurt anyone!" Remus closed his eyes. _It **isn't** hurting anyone, _he thought._ Get a grip, Remus. _He nodded weakly.

"Sure." He gave a wan smile. "You're right. It's fine."

James looked at him, concerned. "Are you okay?" Remus quickly nodded

"I'm fine, just a slight headache."James held his gaze for a few seconds, the same worried expression on his face. "Really, I'm fine."

James nodded slowly and dropped his gaze. However, he remained silent and appeared deep in thought. Sirius looked at him strangely.

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Peter wearily tramped upstairs to the dorm where he knew his friends were eagerly awaiting his return. He was already tired, yet he knew that he still had plenty more hours ahead of him tonight. This was the first night of their prank on Snape. Unlike most of their pranks, however, this would take a little while to complete. But, it gave them more time to laugh. When he reached the top of the stairs he squeaked at the door, realising that he couldn't open it while carrying all the equipment. He gave a feeble kick in the direction of the door, nearly falling over. James poked his head out the door.

"Got everything, Peter?" He opened the door completely, and took Peter's load off him, dumping it on a bed.

"Think so." He collapsed on the floor beside the bed, exhausted.

James did a quick check. "Yep, all here. Thanks, Pete."

"Can we start now?" Sirius was getting impatient.

James laughed. "Certainly." Sirius scrambled to his feet, excited. He ran to the door and waited expectantly.

"Come on!" James, Remus and Peter followed him out of the room.

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"You may go."

Upon hearing this statement from Professor McGonagall, Severus Snape shoved his parchment and quill into his bag and shot out of the classroom where he'd been having detention, furious. He just wanted to get away. Away from everyone and everything. He couldn't stand it. Those jerks. He wasn't wanted at home, and so when he'd come to Hogwarts he'd had a spark of hope. Hope that he might have found somewhere where he could be accepted, that he might not have to be treated like dirt, hope that he might even make a friend. But all of this was denied him. And it was all their fault.

He shook his head in anger as he turned down the stairs in the direction of the dungeons. He might have been able to find someone who would treat him like a human being. He might have had a chance at happiness. But no. That didn't suit them. So he was stuck with this pathetic excuse for a life. He stalked down the corridor ahead of him, his head swirling. When he finally reached the Slytherin common room, he was feeling nauseous.

He dropped his bag off in his room, and sat down on his bed. His headache was getting really bad now. He glanced around the empty room. The others were all down in the common room, sharing stories of how they'd hexed Hufflepuffs and Gryffindors. Much as Severus would have liked to join them, he had no stories to share, and the other's stories would only serve as a reminder of certain Gryffindors that he would like to keep out of his mind. And anyway, he didn't fit in with the other Slytherins. They were intolerant people and liked him no better than he liked them. He rubbed his temples with his palm. This headache was really annoying him. He decided to go see Madam Pomfrey and get her to give him a potion for it.

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Sirius motioned to his friends to stay quiet. They had followed Snape down to his common room, under the protection of James' invisibility cloak. Now they were waiting outside for him to come out again. Remus had been doubtful if he would even come out at all. Sirius however, had been confident all along. He thought that there was a very high chance that Snape might be feeling a little unwell. He had his reasons.

He had heard something. Now that the others were quiet, he listened again. There was a pause, and then more footsteps could be heard. His eyes lit up. "This way," he mouthed to the others, and they set off silently.

--------------

On his way up to the hospital wing, Severus thought he heard something. He paused, listened, and hearing nothing continued up the stairs. It must be his imagination.

A few seconds later, he heard it again. The rush of footsteps, in a last attempt to hide. He turned around slowly. He saw nothing, but he was sure of what he had heard. Unsettled, he went on his way.

A few minutes later he left the hospital wing feeling considerably better. Making his way down towards the dungeons again, he remembered the noises that he'd heard on the way up. _Perhaps they were an effect of my headache? _He considered this possibility. But any hope of that was put out of his mind when he heard two more footsteps. He spun around hoping to catch the offender. As he saw the corner of a cloak swish round a corner, delight spread across his face. He ran to see who it was, but when he reached the corner, he saw nobody. In the long expanse of hallway, there was no one. There weren't any doors close by, and Severus was certain that he would have seen anyone who had been there. Puzzled, he walked a few steps forward, then decided that he wouldn't catch his follower – today at least. It was late anyway, so he went back to the common room.

--------------

As Snape walked away, James breathed a sigh of relief. "That's as close to Snape as I ever want to get."

"I know what you mean, mate," agreed Sirius. "It's pretty scary when he's right up close like that. I swear I felt his breath. It was as greasy as the rest of him."

"Eww!" said Peter. Remus sighed, but was stifling a laugh. While he didn't fully approve of his friends' habit of targeting Snape, he had to admit they were funny.

"Well, we creeped him out alright. Did you see the look on his face?" the boys, including Remus, were soon discussing the prank eagerly; what they had done and also the parts still to come…

---------------

---------------

Severus was walking across the courtyard, on his way to his Care of Magical Creatures lesson. He wouldn't usually be outside, but this class was compulsory. As soon as he could, he was dropping this stupid subject.

While he was walking, he thought about the strange incidents over the past three days. The footsteps he'd heard on Tuesday night had continued to follow him, and he had only ever caught a glimpse of the disappearing cloak; whenever he tried to find an identity, there was no sign of anything. This puzzled him. He wasn't accustomed to being unaware of what was going on.

He noticed with disdain that Potter and his friends were walking in front of him. He caught some of their conversation floating back towards him.

"Did you know that werewolves follow their intended victims around? In the week leading up to the full moon, they pick someone, and they follow them, everywhere they go. Then, they know where they'll be when they make their attack." The voice had a spine-chilling quality to it.

Pettigrew shuddered. "That's really creepy, James. But they couldn't get into the school grounds, could they?" _Could they? _thought Severus.

"Sure they could. If they wanted to. If they'd found a victim."

Severus stopped walking altogether. Was it coincidence? He'd been followed, and… full moon was soon wasn't it? Only a few days away. He breathed in sharply through his nose. His eye twitched. _Get a grip,_ he told himself. _No werewolf is going to attack you._ He started walking again. But he was extremely jumpy, and he was definitely not calm. Potter's words were echoing around his head. _If they'd found a victim._

--------------

The whole of Gryffindor tower was asleep, except for one second-year boy. He was staring out the window at the almost-full moon, hanging amongst wisps of grey cloud. It illuminated the grounds, casting eerie shadows. The sight made the boy shiver. The moon, though his greatest enemy, captivated him with its beauty. He tore his eyes away from it. It was a constant reminder of who he was, – no, _what_ he was - haunting him every night. It had a power over him that compared to nothing else.

_Only one more night to go,_ thought Remus wistfully. One more night before that moon took control. That was the worst part. Not the horrific pain, not the burden of keeping it secret, not even the fear of being found out. Of course all of these were awful, terrible, but the worst part was being out of control. When he transformed, the wolf took over, and he could do nothing about it. He would kill his best friends if they ever crossed him like that. And he could never forgive himself if he did that to someone – or worse. He wished upon nobody the curse he carried. Not his worst enemy.

He realised he should be sleeping. He needed all the sleep he could get before... that night. As he gradually drifted closer to the borderline between sleep and consciousness, he considered their prank on Snape. In his half-awake state, he found the situation pretty ironic. Snape thought he was being followed by a werewolf; Peter, Sirius and James were laughing at him because he wasn't; and in actual fact he was. _Ha._ Remus almost laughed at this nonsensical humour. Then he remembered what James had been telling Peter. _Thank goodness that isn't true,_ he thought. Thoughts of Snape, his friends and full moons became a confused dream as he was consumed by sleep.

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**_Another chapter finished! Hope you liked it! This wasn't going to be the whole chapter, but I wanted to keep them close to the same length, so this is it for now. But shorter chapters mean quicker updates. Please R&R!_**


	3. Commence Stage 2

**Chapter 3: Commence Stage 2**

By Monday, James could tell that Snape was seriously creeped out. He never went anywhere alone if he could help it, though he usually had nobody to walk with. Rather he would tag along behind a larger group, casting frequent glances behind him. Sometimes he literally shook with fear as he walked. He had taken even more care in avoiding the Gryffindors' company, as he obviously didn't want to hear any more about the werewolf following him; or perhaps he was trying to convince himself that nothing of the sort was happening. If so, he was failing miserably.

As he walked up the stairs to History of Magic, taking his time, he watched Snape in front of him, trailing a bunch of Hufflepuffs. Either he had lost his Slytherin pals and gravitated towards the closest group, or he had been too busy looking over his shoulder to notice that the people he was following were now wearing yellow-edged robes instead of green. His gaze rested on James, who raised his eyebrows before turning his head aside. He kept watching out of the corner of his eye though, so that he could see Snape turn around only to jump into the air. Obviously it had been the latter explanation. As James cracked up, he moved away nervously.

James shook his head. This was hilarious. Sirius had once again proved brilliant. He sighed. With his mind on the prank, he continued towards his lesson, but with a dazed look on his face due to his wandering thoughts. He wasn't concentrating on where he was going, and suddenly he heard a loud _thud_. At the same time a wall smacked into his head.

All he could see was a red coloured blur in front of him. He closed his eyes and turned around, only to see more blurs, of different colours. There were clumps of black, one group edged with blue and another with some green tinges interrupting the colour. One black blur in front of him was edged in red; this one seemed to be jerking a bit, and was beginning to give him a headache. He closed his eyes again, trying to shake away the dizziness in his head. For a moment it got worse, then he opened his eyes again and his vision cleared. The black blur which had been jerking before turned out to be Sirius, waving his hand at James to get his attention.

"Hello?? Anybody in there buddy? Are you even alive?" While his mouth twitched slightly, Sirius' eyes showed his concern for his friend. "What were you doing?"

"Umm…" James' forehead creased as he tried to remember where he was going. "Oh yeah! History of Magic. Class. Now."

"…Yes, James," confirmed Sirius, "but that's two floors down from here."

James looked around, realising that his friend was in fact correct. "Right."

There was a pause, with James staring blankly at Sirius.

"So… What are you doing up here?"

Finally it dawned on James. "Ohh. I wasn't concentrating on walking. I was just thinking about Snape."

"Eeew!! Why would you be thinking about him?" He pulled a face.

"I was thinking about how paranoid he is. Our prank appears to be working. Just then he was following a crowd of Hufflepuffs. He's too scared to notice who he's walking behind."

Sirius burst out laughing. "That's a good one. Hmm…" His eyes lit up as his mouth spread into a grin. "Yes. I think that it is time to commence part two of the prank."

He began to walk slowly in the direction of the staircase. Though James watched him eagerly, he did not elaborate. "…Go on," James prompted finally. But Sirius only dismissed him with a casual wave of the hand and continued walking. "Later," was all he would say.

Indignant and _very_ curious, James stared at Sirius, wondering what his amazing plan could be.

-----------------------

Remus was annoyed with himself. He had stayed up with the rest of the Marauders last night exploring. Not that he didn't enjoy it, and he didn't object to his friends going, but he shouldn't have gone. The full moon was on Thursday; he needed rest. Staying up last night not only meant that he was exhausted this morning, but also that when he tried to finish his homework tonight he would be even more tired. This would mean he lost more sleep that night, and spiral down into a never-ending cycle of sleepiness. He tired more easily than other people, too.

He sighed. This was always a problem. He knew that his friends would be as bouncy as ever. They always were. He knew it was his 'condition' which caused his constant fatigue, and he therefore figured that his friends must have some secret 'condition' of their own which caused their hyperactivity.

There was nothing he could do about it.

Suddenly his train of thought was interrupted by a loud _THUD._ His eyes flicked open.

He sat up to be greeted by the sight of the usual three beds in front of him: one was empty, still messy, and the glasses from the bedside table were gone – James must already be up – the next was occupied by a large lump of blankets, a tuft of dark hair sticking out of the end where the head usually was. The last bed was completely bare: Peter, wrapped in blankets, was lying on the floor. This would explain the noise.

There was silence for a few moments; after which came a gentle snoring. Both Sirius and Peter had gone back to sleep. Incredible.

-----------------------

Peter awoke uncomfortably. He was lying on his face, his nose squished to the ground. Rolling over, he saw a familiar face staring at him, its eyes barely an inch away from his face.

"It's ok, he's alive."

Another voice came from the left. "This one is too." Groggily Peter sat up, to see Remus poking Sirius to wake him up. Thankfully, James hadn't thought this necessary for him. Rubbing his eyes, he got off the ground. His leg was showing signs of going back to sleep, so he had to hit it to keep it awake. He dumped the blankets onto his sun-streaked bed, the gold edging reflecting off the scarlet duvet.

There was a groan from the last occupied bed, and a sleepy "jus' five more minutes…".

"It's already quarter past nine!" James exclaimed. "Classes started fifteen minutes ago." It was surprising that Remus was still here, really. Sirius sighed loudly and thumped his head back on the pillow, before reluctantly getting up at last.

Now that his job was done, Remus was ready to go. "Come on, guys! Hurry up!" Peter quickly got ready and he followed Remus out the door.

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"Mr Potter, Mr Black. So nice to honour us with your presence. I don't suppose we would be enlightened as to the nature of that which caused you to be _twenty minutes late_?"

Transfiguration. The absolute WORST class to be late for. Professor McGonagall's lips were so straight that it looked as if they'd been simply drawn on her face using a ruler.

"Oh, it was the most wonderful thing. You should try it some time," James said casually. It looked like he hadn't even noticed the Professor's face. In actual fact, he was simply very good at acting. "Some call it.. sleep."

Several people in the class gasped at his nerve. Peter practically fell off his chair, except that Remus was there to block his fall. Remus shook his head. Professor McGonagall massaged her temples with her left hand.

"Detention. Tonight and tomorrow in my office after dinner. Sit down." They obeyed, partly to avoid another detention. "So, as I was saying, this is a highly difficult spell and I will therefore need your full attention."

It was around then that Sirius and James stopped listening. Had this been another class with a different teacher, they would have continued their conversation only a little more quietly. But McGonagall required at least some caution, even for these two. So their conversation took place on paper.

_So, Sirius… tell me about that plan of yours. _

_**What? What plan?**_

_You know, stage 2 of the Snape prank!_

_**Oh, yeah. NO.**_

_Whaddaya mean no??_

_**I'm not gonna tell you. **_

_What? Why not?_

**_It's not like I would write it down. That would be incriminating evidence. _**

_Bah. Come on…_

_**Hey, look! Remus isn't doing work! **_

_What?!?! Where? _

_Hey, he isn't! He's just staring out into space like some kind of idiot… He looks hung over. _

_**But he didn't drink anything. Nor did we, as a matter of fact. I dunno where to get it.**_

_Wait, don't change the subject. Tell me the plan!_

_**Ok…**_

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Peter knew he didn't pick up the work as quickly as his friends, so he was paying attention in this lesson, even while they were passing notes between themselves. This was partly due to the fact that he was sitting on the other side of the classroom to them. Remus, sitting beside him, had encouraged him to listen, though Peter thought that was a bit rich when now he was staring out the window at the sky, his eyes dark, his mouth set. His quill lay on the desk, dripping ink onto the parchment and blotting the notes he had just taken. Peter elbowed him in the ribs to bring him back to reality.

"Wha- oh." Remus lifted a hand to his head. "I'm sorry Peter. I'm not feeling too well. I can't concentrate."

At that moment, McGonagall dismissed the class. "And I want you all to practice that and demonstrate to me your proficiency in it on Thursday."

Remus left the class quickly and walked ahead of his classmates. He didn't want them to see him like this and get suspicious. He knew they were pretty observant. His head was aching. It was times like this he most feared and loathed the moon, which had such power over him, the terrible power to transform him into a horrible beast.

His headache was making him grow dizzy. He leant against a wall and closed his eyes to try and calm his senses and regain normal vision. He heard the voices of his classmates passing him magnified through his sore ears and pounding head. He heard someone come up next to him.

"Remus, mate, are you ok?" This voice wasn't harsh like the others, but gentle on his ears. "No offence, but you don't look too good."

"Mmm. I don't really feel too good either. It's just a headache, but I don't feel like lunch. I'm gonna go lie down for a while. See you this afternoon." He headed up towards the Gryffindor tower. The transformations were getting steadily worse. At home they had been bad; he hadn't imagined they could get worse. At Hogwarts he was constantly under the stress of hiding his secret from his best friends – at any moment he could let something slip, and he would be found out. He must always be on guard. This stress had just made them more painful, more drawn-out. The wolf gave him deeper wounds now and it was becoming more and more frustrated at the small space it was confined to.

He sighed and lay down on the soft scarlet duvet of his bed. His eyes focused on the golden stars which speckled the roof. _At least there's no moon there,_ he thought, his eyelids drooping into sleep.

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James had left Sirius and Peter to find Remus. He had slept through class – James was worried for his friend. He came in to see him sleeping restlessly, murmuring in his slumber. Most of it was indistinct muttering, but James caught a few phrases.

"…no, it's not till Thursday…they'll find out…not now…the animal" Remus shuddered, shrinking away from the light and curling into a ball. He looked terrified.

James was baffled. What was on Thursday? Who were they and what would they find out? What could be making his friend so afraid? And this animal? _Whoever's behind this… I'll get them. _

"Remus! Remus, are you ok?" James touched his shoulder. "It's just a dream."

Remus' eyes opened with a start, and he sat up, trying to come to grips with both h is dream and reality. "I'm alright. Um – nightmare. Sorry."

James nodded. "I noticed. You were sleep-talking, and shaking all over. What was that? Must have been some dream to scare you like that. I mean, you're a Gryffindor, aren't you? Not a coward."

"uh-" he began uncertainly, "I dreamt – I was being chased by some kind of animal. It was destroying me." He invented.

"What was that about Thursday? I heard you say something about it." James asked.

Remus wasn't a good liar, but he tried. "um, he said he would kill me on Thursday." He knew this hadn't convinced James though, but was saved at that moment by Peter and Sirius bursting in. "Hi," he said, "so what have you guys been doing while I was asleep?"

James gave him a suspicious look which said 'we'll discuss this later'.

Sirius and Peter hadn't noticed this though. "Sirius told me about the plan," said Peter, grinning.

"What plan?" At this, Peter's grin grew til it almost slid off his face. He was in on something Remus didn't know about yet. That made him feel important.

"Ah." Sirius was in business mode. "This is stage two of the Snape prank. So far, he is absolutely terrified that a werewolf is after him. This we know from James' encounter with him earlier today."

James snorted.

"So, we can now commence part two. Remus, since you can disguise your handwriting best, you're the werewolf." Remus tensed at this, and felt James looking at him. He composed himself. Sirius continued, "You will send him letters giving him tasks to complete. _Or else…_"

Remus nodded slowly. "These tasks," he said, "they will be… entertaining? Embarrassing?"

"Of course." The three boys smiled mischievously at him.

Under their stare, though he did not feel in the least like smiling, but more like being sick, he grinned back at them. He must put up this façade, or they would already know of his condition. And they would abandon him, like all his other friends always had. He knew it. They were the best thing that had happened in his life, and he wasn't about to throw it all away because of some loose comment, or a failure to smile at the right time.

---------------------------

Sirius and Remus had gone off to the kitchens to get some snacks for the hungry Gryffindors. This left James alone with Peter, who was struggling with his astronomy homework. He had foolishly agreed to help.

"So… that's… Cancer?" Peter peered through his telescope, then moved aside to allow James a look.

"No, that's Orion."

"Ohhh… And – whoah-"

James looked up the telescope. "That's the moon." It was almost full. He looked at the lunar chart which lay open next to the telescope. "Full moon on Thursday…" He remembered Remus' sleep-talking. _But what's the phase of the moon got to do with – but – no. Not Remus. _ He shook the thought out of his mind. It was crazy.

---------------------------

Severus lent back on the cold stone wall and closed his eyes. This was crazy. He was just being paranoid. He wasn't being followed, and if he was, it couldn't be a _werewolf_. They wouldn't be able to get inside the castle. Would they?

He tried to knock some sense into himself. He had werewolves on the brain. And in astronomy they'd had to look up the lunar calendar and map out the stars and phases of the moon for the next three months. The next full moon was Thursday.

He opened his eyes again, to see a grey paper plane floating a hair's breadth away from the tip of his nose. Startled, he involuntarily jerked his head back, which resulted in a painful throbbing on the top of his head. Had the Marauders, hiding under the invisibility cloak, not placed a silencing charm over themselves, Severus would have heard their raucous laughter at this. As it was, he cursed under his breath and massaged his head, while examining the parchment. It had the shadow of a wolf's face drawn on the top of the plane, so that if you looked at it from a certain angle it looked menacing, but at another could not be seen at all.

He warily unfolded the parchment. It had written on it a message:

_**You have angered the wolf.**_

_**Your instructions are attached. **_

_**You have two days. **_

_**Cooperate… or else. **_


	4. The Howl of a Wolf

**Chapter 4: The Howl of a Wolf**

The next day was spent for Severus in anxious anticipation of the next note containing his instructions. He was well and truly scared.

It was the next morning, Wednesday, when ­his second message appeared.

He was on his way to Potions, his favourite subject. It was so unfortunate that they had to share it with the Gryffindors. But he was particularly excited about today's lesson, as they would be learning the Swelling Solution. Hopefully he could use this to get back at the horrible 'Marauders' as they called themselves now. They were forever tormenting him. However his thoughts of revenge were interrupted when a paper plane hit him in the back of the head.

He stopped dead in his tracks. Slowly, apprehensively, he turned around to face the paper hovering at his eye level. Horrified, he took a couple of steps backwards, in an attempt to get away from it, but it simply flew a little closer to him. Hesitantly, he reached out and took it out of the air.

**Once in your next class, say the following incantation:**

_**Incipo inscripitium**_

**I am watching.**

The paper had the same wolfish shadow on its face. Puzzled, Severus continued to his class. What could this mean? What did the spell do? A part of him was intrigued as to the effects of the charm. Another part of him was scared at the prospect of what he might cause by reciting it. But he knew that he would have to carry out the instructions. As the beast itself had said: _I am watching._ It would know if he didn't obey. He swallowed. _Come on, get it over with._

He headed for his seat, at the very right hand side of the classroom, in the front row. Passing Potter and Black's desk, he went to jump over the foot that one of them usually stuck out to trip him up, only to find it wasn't there. Suspiciously, he looked at the pair out of the corner of his eye as he continued to his place, noticing that they were whispering to each other animatedly. This was unusual behaviour for the usually rowdy boys. Before he could worry too seriously about it though, Professor Slughorn entered the classroom, and the lesson began.

He was so caught up in the finer technicalities of brewing the Swelling Solution that he had almost forgotten about his instructions. It was not until he came to a slow point in making the potion – he needed to leave it to simmer for ten minutes – that he remembered what he had to do.

Taking out the parchment again, he read over the words of the incantation again in his head. He had no idea what they might do. He cleared his throat awkwardly, then hesitated. A series of 'What if's poured through his mind. What if he said it wrong? What if the spell did something terrible? What if it did something to _him_? But then the last line caught his eye. _I am watching_. He gulped. The consequences of _not_ saying the spell could be even worse. He breathed in deeply.

"Incipo Inscripitium!" he said, the slightest waver of uncertainty in his tone.

Instantly, the remaining ingredients on his desk flew into his potion all at once, not in any way resembling the precise manner described by Slughorn. The solution turned from an emerald green to a horrible greyish-blue, lumpy mess, and gave off putrid fumes. After a few seconds, it exploded all over him, giving him purple boils on his face and hands. Some had even landed on the boy next to him.

The blonde Gryffindor girl behind him suddenly began to laugh. He looked over his shoulder and noticed something on his back. He groaned.

The whole class was laughing at him by now, and his face and hands were in agony over the boils. They had somehow begun to turn fuzzy and were disgusting to behold. His only thought was that this would not be the work of a werewolf. Unless the said werewolf had taken the form of the marauders. He was certain of the culprits, not only because of their track record with him, but mainly from the message left in the bottom of the cauldron, written in the remains of the potion.

**You should try washing your greasy face more often. **

**It helps prevent the pimples.**

**The Marauders**

///\\\///\\\///\\\

Sirius cracked up laughing along with the rest of the class. It was always nice to see a prank well pulled: you knew all your hard work paid off. He tried to remember this moment for later; to picture in his mind Snivellus, covered in purple fuzzy boils, with a 'kick me' sign on his back. That last one had been his own idea.

He sighed fondly. He had enjoyed that prank, and was almost sad to finish it. But, as they say, all good things come to an end. _Except the marauders,_ he thought proudly, looking around at the other three members. James looked as though he shared a similar opinion to himself, and Peter looked glad that it had worked and was now talking enthusiastically to Remus, who seemed out of place in the four. He looked almost… relieved to see the end of that prank, and was trying to change the subject and move on, so soon after the prank had ended. He also looked exhausted, like he was being drained of energy and colour. _What's up with him?_

///\\\///\\\///\\\

The marauders were celebrating the success of their prank that night. A few weeks ago Sirius had stumbled upon the entrance to the kitchens and so they had a large amount of sugar in the room. All the boys were sitting in a circle around the food on the floor, eating and talking between themselves.

"I propose a toast!" cried James, over the others' voices.

"A toast?" asked Sirius.

"Yes, a toast. A toast to –"

"Jamesie?"

"What is it, Sirius?" he snapped, annoyed.

"Sorry to burst your bubble, but we got no drinks!"

James looked around. Sirius was right. He waved his wand. Nothing happened. He got off his bed and took an unlabeled bottle from behind the panel on the wall where they stored all their 'emergency rations'.

Remus looked suspiciously into his drink. He wasn't sure what it was, but it didn't smell alcoholic.

"There. Happy? Okay then, as I was saying, a toast to the wonderful job we did on Snivellus. Drink up, me hearties!"

All four boys took a big swig of the unknown drink, and continued chatting until late into the night. The boys grew tired, and the conversation grew boring. They looked for something more interesting to do.

It was about two o'clock in the morning, and only Remus was on the floor now. He was lying on his back with his arms folded behind his head. James had pulled his bedclothes down onto the floor into a pile and was seated atop the mountain they created, and Sirius lay on his bed, his head resting on his arms at the foot. Peter was sitting cross-legged on the end of his bed.

"Ooh, I know!" said Sirius, suddenly, lifting up his head. "Let's tell ghost stories! I know a great one."

There was a chorus of 'yeah's from the others. "Me too," said James, grinning wickedly. "But you go first."

"Okay then… It was a dark and stormy night…"

Remus interrupted. "Oh no, not one of _these_ stories. Come on, can't you come up with anything more original to begin your story?"

"Fine then. It was a sunny day, with blue sky and everything was happy. In happyland _everyone _was happy, even the butterflies." Sirius said sarcastically.

"Okay, okay. It's your story. Continue."

"Thankyou." Sirius looked around, getting into the atmosphere again. "It was a dark and stormy night…" Sirius spoke for a long time, telling the story of a crazed old hag who went around on a killing spree, destroying all the inhabitants of Antarctica. He told in graphic detail one of her murders: apparently she blew him to bits, and the largest part of him they could find was his finger. It was an improbable and fanciful tale, but scary nonetheless. It left the other boys a little shaken.

///\\\///\\\///\\\

"Oi James, you said _you _had a story. Let's hear it then." Said Peter. They were all eager to hear how his story would compare with Sirius'.

"Well," James began, "The story begins in a town on the outskirts of London, called Langmoore…

_This town was fairly ordinary, it was a wizard town, of course. And in this town lived a fairly ordinary boy named Little Jimmy Walker. Well, he was ordinary until the attack. It happened on Halloween, which just happened to fall on a full moon that year. Unfortunately. _

_He was out trick-or-treating with his little friends. He was only six years old; everyone just thought he looked so cute in his ghost costume – it made him half-transparent. Walking along a stretch of road, illuminated only by the brightness of the moon, they came along what looked like another trick-or-treater in a wolf costume. It was pretty good, they all thought. It was a werewolf. He ran at them and attacked them – clawing at them, tearing their flesh. They were small; they didn't stand much of a chance. Five children had gone out that night, but only one survived – Little Jimmy. He was sent to St Mungo's with severe bites. _

_There were a series of attacks after that. The next month a girl was found mauled to death; the month after two grown women were discovered in the woods, one dead, the other survived with bites. Parents stopped allowing their children outside, and the town became unsafe. The month after that there were more deaths, and the township finally decided that this had to stop. If they didn't want werewolf killings every month, they would have to band together and put a stop to it themselves. So, the next month after all of that, a party of the town's bravest and strongest men set out to kill the beast. _

_The wolf put up a great fight, giving two men scratch wounds, another a bite, and even killing one man. But eventually one of them managed to kill it. The town celebrated, and everyone felt safe outside for the first time in months. _

_But the next full moon, another woman died. Her husband was scratched, but was unable to save her. He did survive however, and was able to tell the story of how his wife had been killed by the _ghost_ of a werewolf. _

"And from that night on, if ever you visit Langmoore…"he paused, watching the others who were all staring at him in suspense, "every month, under the full moon, could be heard, the howl of a wolf."

All through the story, Remus had been turning paler, and he had broken into a sweat. His heart was pounding in his chest. Why did it have to be werewolves? It always was. _Couldn't James have picked a different story?_ He was so afraid that his secret would be out. This was it. He started hyperventilating.

"Remus?"

"What?" Startled, Remus sounded very accusatory, and he'd jumped in fright.

"Nothing! I was just gonna say you don't look too good. Are you feeling alright?" James looked a bit offended, and definitely surprised, at Remus' reaction. He wasn't used to this Remus.

"Is little Remmy scared?" teased Sirius.

"Nah," said Remus offhand, but he realised that this could be a good idea. They would notice he was hiding something, and this would be a pretend secret. He would let them think that his secret was just that he was afraid of that story. That was definitely plausible, and it would put them off his trail. _Hopefully._

///\\\///\\\///\\\

Thursday came, and brought with it cold weather. While the wind whipped around outside, the students huddled in the common rooms when not in classes, being thankful for the enchantments which kept the castle from becoming as draughty as it looked.

The marauders had snagged a spot directly in front of the fire; a difficult feat in this weather. The day had been exhausting, with Care of Magical Creatures taking them outside in the wind, followed by Quidditch practise for James and Sirius. Right now they needed to thaw out. It took until after five-thirty for them to completely regain their body heat, and while most of the boys looked and felt back to normal, even then Remus still looked terrible.

"Ah, that's better. I can feel my toes again," said Sirius, stretching out his arms and legs as if to check their functionality. He looked around at the other three. Peter had fallen asleep from the warmth of the fire, James was staring at a certain red-head, and Remus looked… awful. He had to admit it.

"Ooh, Remus, you don't look so good. Did you get frostbite out there?"

Remus looked exhausted, freezing and sick. "I'm alright." He looked out the window at the sun, so low in the sky, then glanced at his watch. "Actually, I have to go now. My mother's sick, as you know. She relies on these visits."

Sirius remembered that conversation of a month ago. "And I bet she'd particularly be looking forward to it this month."

"Why?" Remus looked puzzled, as if he didn't remember anything of last month. _Strange, _thought Sirius.

"Because you couldn't go last time," Remus still appeared totally bewildered. "You were sick, right? Had to stay in the hospital wing?" Recognition immediately dawned on his face.

"Ohhh… yeah, that's right. Yes. Yep. That's what happened." He was acting suspiciously. But Sirius had no idea what he could be up to. He thought back to his other experience in this area. The only other person who he had seen act this way was James, last year. But it turned out that he'd been planning a surprise birthday party for him. Except his birthday wasn't for nearly five months!

There had to be another explanation.

///\\\///\\\///\\\

"Look, I've really got to go now. Sorry. See you in a couple of days." Remus left the common room.

He hated having to lie to his friends. They accepted him, and he felt like someone actually cared about him. But he knew from experience that he couldn't tell them about his problem.

_ "But Lex, I won't hurt you, I promise! I'm not a monster!" The little boy backed away in fear. He'd heard about werewolves. They were vicious beasts. You had to stay away from them or they would eat you, or make you like them._

"_No… get away from me!" He was terrified. _

_Remus could only watch as his only friend ran away from him in pure terror._

_ Sitting on a rock at the beach, Remus turned to the girl next to him reluctantly. "Okay, you're right. There is a reason why I'm sick every month. Look, I'm gonna tell you, but you have to promise not to tell anyone. And don't hate me. I'm still me, remember." He stared hard at the blonde girl. She was nine, the same age as him._

"_Hurry up and tell me." She was as forthright and blunt as ever. He swallowed hard._

"_I'm a werewolf." _

_A scream echoed out along the empty beach. _

_ "He's a – a werewolf!" The cluster of children around him gasped. _

"_What?"_

"_It's true, my mum told me. She told me to stay away from the little _freak_." The group backed away. Remus turned to Nat, who had so often stood up for him and been his friend. To his shock, Nat was moving away with the rest of them, a look of horror on his face. _

"_Nat, no!" he cried. _

"_I thought I knew who you were." In an act of desperation, he grabbed his hand to pull him back, but Nat shook him off._

"_Don't touch me… _werewolf._" _

No. There was no reason for this time to be any different. While it may be hard for him to lie, it would be even harder if he told the truth.

///\\\///\\\///\\\

In the common room, Peter was waking up from his slumber. The fire had lulled, and it was dark outside. Remus, Sirius and James were nowhere to be seen.

"Uh, James? Sirius, Remus?" he hesitantly asked thin air. Not surprisingly, there was no answer.

He stretched his stiff arms and legs, letting out a huge yawn. How long had he slept? He looked at the grandfather clock in the corner. It was eleven-forty-five. Almost midnight. Slightly annoyed that his friends hadn't woken him, he sleepily made his way up the stairs to their dormitory.

Being careful not to make a sound as he opened the door, he crept towards his bed. He passed Sirius, who looked dead, except for the snoring, and stifled a laugh. As he passed Remus' bed, however, he noticed it was empty. _Where's Remus? _The question echoed in his head, and he had no answer for it. He glanced over at James' bed, which still held the messy-haired boy it was supposed to.

Bewildered, he decided just to sleep on it. After all, his brain worked even worse than usual at night. He lumbered over to his bed near the window.

As he pulled the blankets up, he looked out the window at the shining, full moon. _ It's beautiful,_ he thought. Illuminating the night, a light in the darkness. Glistening in the sky like a pearl.

With these thoughts in his head, he drifted off to sleep, dreaming of pearls, moonshine and things of beauty. As such, he did not hear the mighty howl echoing eerily across the grounds.

The howl of a wolf.

**///\\\///\\\///\\\**


End file.
